Remus Lupin and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by Cookiepaw
Summary: The Prisoner of Azkaban from Remus's point of view. Haven't decided whether there'll be slash or not.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary:** Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban told from Remus Lupin's point of view._

_**Disclaimer: **Pretty much everything is JK's_

**Remus Lupin and the Prisoner of Azkaban**

Chapter 1

In a tiny village, at the end of a small, winding road, there stood a lone cottage. The cottage had a red door, the window frames were blue, friendly wisteria vines crept happily up the red brick wall, and there was a welcoming flowerbed on either side of the garden path. You would never suspect that this was the home of a werewolf.

Remus Lupin sipped his tea. It was the end of July and it had been a full moon the night before. Today he was feeling tired and groggy, with an extra-nasty headache. This was because his werewolf transformations were particularly painful and self-harming, and the only thing that could prevent them was the wolfsbane potion, something that Remus could scarcely ever afford.

There was a tap on the window, and Remus stumbled over to see an owl had arrived with some post. There was a newspaper and a letter, both made of parchment. Remus reached into a nearby jar and gave the owl a tiny bronze knut that he pulled out. Then he took the post to the table and unfolded the newspaper. The headline came as quite a shock.

_SIRIUS BLACK STILL AT LARGE_

"What the hell?" he wondered aloud.

_Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today._

"_We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."_

_Fudge has been criticised by some members of the International Federation of Warlocks for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis._

"_Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it – who'd believe him if he did?"_

_While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand which Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse._

"Oh, Sirius!" Remus groaned. Remus had heard nothing of this breakout, as most of the time he could not afford the newspaper, but he _had_ known about the thirteen people massacre, as he had arrived just as Sirius Black was captured, and he had also believed him that he was innocent. But Remus's mind had been swayed by various reports and stories through the years, and now he didn't know which side to take. The reason he had not believed the rumours at first was because Sirius Black had been one of Remus's best friends at school. Not only was Sirius the one who people supposed had committed the mass murder, he had also been Secret Keeper for the Potters, and therefore responsible for the deaths of their other two best friends, James and Lily. But Remus knew he would never betray his friends. That was simply _not_ Sirius! Remus decided that maybe he'd write to him, to get the full story.

He turned to the letter. It was addressed: _Remus J. Lupin, The Kitchen, Witherings Cottage, South Brook, Somerset._ He flipped it over, and nearly spilt his tea as the Hogwarts seal came into sight. He peeled the envelope open and slid out the letter inside. It read:

_Dear Mr Lupin_

_As I am sure you are aware, Hogwarts is in need of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher every year._

_Since we have received no applicants to date, we would be delighted if you could return to Hogwarts to fill this post._

_We await your reply and expect it by 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Remus didn't know how to react. DADA professor? The job must have been getting very short of willing professors for Dumbledore to invite a werewolf to do it. That aside, Dumbledore had been very considerate in allowing Remus to even attend Hogwarts a a student, and he'd had to make special provisions that were still there to this day, free of use.

He decided to accept the post. After all, he did need the money, and it was the 31st July the next day. It was now or never.

_Dear Professor McGonagall,_

He wrote,

_I would be happy and grateful to accept your offer of the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but I must remind you of my condition, and it would be useful if the Potions professor could provide a wolfsbane potion on the nights leading up to the full moon._

_Thank you for granting this opportunity. I will be at Kings Cross station promptly at 11 o'clock on 1 September and will travel to Hogwarts via the train._

_Yours faithfully,_

_Remus Lupin_

That would be good enough. He scanned it again, just to make sure, then folded the paper into an envelope shape (as he could not pay for real envelopes). He took the letter up to his own owl and told the scruffy creature where to take it. The owl hooted softly and took off. Remus watched it until it flew out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

One month and two days later, Remus arrived at the station in London, with a single trunk and his tatty brown owl. It was ten o'clock as he didn't want students around him, goggling at his scars and patched robes (which were actually the best set of robes he owned) – that he would have to face at the great feast.

He made his way along to the end of the train, where hardly anyone would come across him, and stowed his trunk in the luggage rack over his head. He opened the window to let his owl fly ahead, then took off his cloak and draped it over himself. He was so tired, as the moon had been at its fullest just a few days before, thus he fell almost straight to sleep.

Remus's eyelids flickered sleepily and he found he was in a strange dilemma. The compartment was now pitch black – he couldn't see further than a few inches – and the voices of quite a few students surrounded him.

"Who's that?" he heard. It was a girl's voice.

"Who's _that_?" Another girl's voice sounded.

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron -"

"Come in and sit down -"

"Not here!" said a boy's voice that sounded strangely familiar, but not like anyone he had heard recently. "I'm here!"

"Ouch!" said another boy.

Remus had had enough, and he wanted to investigate. "Quiet!" he croaked. He waved his wand over his hands and produced blue flames that he could hold. Now he could see everyone. In front of him stood two red-haired students, a bushy-haired girl, a round-faced boy and Harry Potter. He knew it was Harry at once. The boy had the same rebellious hair that James had had, and his mother's green eyes.

"Stay where you are," Remus said, getting to his feet so he could find his way to the door. But before he got there, the door slid open to reveal a cloaked, phantom-like figure: a Dementor. He raised his wand, preparing to conjure a Patronus (which he'd learnt to do long before his NEWT year) but before he could, he noticed Harry collapsing. He decided he'd get rid of the Dementor first, and thought of his happiest memory – when he, James, Sirius and their friend Peter had all been together and had never felt better. The Patronus shot out from his wand, but it was only a Shield Patronus. Maybe he felt worse now that two of them were dead and one was an escaped Azkaban convict, whom he presumed the Dementor was searching for.

When the terrible creature was gone, he stood leaning slightly over Harry to inspect him, as the red-haired boy and the bushy-haired girl crouched by James's son, while the round-faced student stood next to him. He noticed how much the boy looked like Frank Longbottom, and realised he must be Neville, whom he had only seen once, as a very small child. As Harry's best friends explained what had happened, Remus whipped a huge bar of chocolate out of his pocket (he found he always had money for his beloved chocolate) and snapped some pieces off for everyone.

"Here. Eat it. It'll help," he told Harry.

Harry took the chocolate, but he didn't eat it. "What was that thing?" he asked.

"A Dementor," Remus explained, handing the other pieces to everyone else. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban."

Remus searched for any remains of chocolate inside the wrapper, and when he found there was none, he scrunched it up and stuffed it into his pocket. "Eat. It'll help," he repeated. "I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…"

He strolled past Harry and into the corridor. True, he did want to see what time they'd be arriving at Hogwarts, but he also wanted to check that all the Dementors were gone. He peered into the other compartments, and all along the train there were students looking cold and scared, but none of them were in a very bad condition.

He reached the drivers compartment and asked when they would be arriving at Hogsmeade. The driver confirmed that the journey would end in fifteen minutes, so Remus made his way back to the other end of the train, only to find that nobody had eaten their chocolate. He smiled. It was quite amusing how careful they all were. Back when he was at school, he and his friends would have wolfed (excuse the pun) down all the chocolate in one go regardless of who was supplying it.

"I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know…"

He saw Harry take a bite, and noticed how warm the boy looked afterwards. It was amazing how one small piece of chocolate could remove all sense of depression at once.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," said Remus. Then he asked, concerned, "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Fine," Harry muttered.

Remus sat back down and took a battered old book out of his trunk. He read for the remainder of the journey, something he always had done on the Hogwarts Express.

They soon arrived at the station and Remus found an empty carriage to take him up to the school. It had been a long time since he'd ridden in one of these, and the Thestrals at the front still frightened him.

Soon it came to a halt, and Remus climbed out. But just as he was about to walk forwards, he heard a cold voice. "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you, too, Weasley?"

A blond boy with a pointed face, and wearing Slytherin robes was addressing Harry and his friends. Remus chose to interfere; he hated seeing bullying – though interfering had never been a strong point of his. At school, Sirius and James used to bully a Slytherin student named Snape, and Remus, who had been chosen as prefect, had never done a thing about it.

"Is there a problem?" he said. The Slytherin boy gave him an impudent glare and answered, "Oh no – er – _Professor_," then he smirked at two big boys who seemed like a couple of body guards, and vanished into the castle.

Remus joined the crowd that was filing into the Great Hall, and then sidled around the edge so he could make a quick escape to the staff table. He sat down in an empty space, and studied the other members of staff around him. He noticed Professor Flitwick and Madam Hooch, both of which had taught him when he had attended Hogwarts, and greeted them cheerily.

"Ah, Remus," said Flitwick. "You were certainly a pleasure to teach. Didn't ever lose a mark in Charms, did you?"

"Well, I made the occasional slip-up," Remus replied modestly.

"Nonsense," said Flitwick. "You don't need to be shy about your intelligence."

"Yes, I remember you as one of the more studious than sporty students," Madam Hooch interjected. "But at least you managed to talk a bit of sense into Potter and -"

She broke off, clearly not wanting to address the subject of Sirius. Remus broke eye contact to look instead at the teacher who had just seated herself next to him. She was a dumpy woman, and she smelt strongly of plants (being a werewolf, Remus had a very good sense of smell).

"Professor Sprout," she said, offering her hand. "You may call me Pomona, though. And you are?"

"Remus Lupin," he replied, shaking her hand politely. "Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Ah, yes, you were a couple of years below me at school," said Sprout.

Remus nodded. Sprout had left three years after Remus had joined. Then Remus spotted Hagrid, a giant of a man, well, half-giant, to be exact. Hagrid gave him a hearty wave and Remus smiled back. He felt so happy and warm to be back at his old school.

But that happiness drained from him when he saw who was sitting a few spaces down the table from him. It was Severus Snape, who was not going to be happy to see him. Although Remus had not been one of the bullies, Snape despised him as well for being in their gang, and Remus knew Snape was one for holding grudges. Luckily, Snape hadn't noticed him yet, so he turned his back as much as he could to speak to Professor Flitwick again.

Moments later, Professor Dumbledore appeared, followed by Madam Pomfrey, and the chatter of the Great Hall stopped. Remus spotted a few students in the crowd eyeing him, clearly interested in the position he was going to take up.

"Welcome, everyone," said Dumbledore. "May I present our new students?"

A group of nervous-looking first-years stood in the middle of the hall, faced by the dusty Sorting Hat, which would soon determine their houses. Remus caught the eye of one of them and gave her an encouraging smile, which she returned weakly.

"As Professor McGonagall cannot be with us tonight, I have asked Professor Flitwick to be so kind as to call each new student up to be sorted," Dumbledore explained.

Flitwick walked around the edge of the table to face the pupils in front of him.

"Atkins, Tara!" he called.

"RAVENCLAW!" cried the Hat, after a few seconds of sitting on the girl's head.

"Beckett, Cerberus!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

The sorting continued, and soon there were a fair amount of students in each house. In Gryffindor were Galaxy Frost, Thomas Hartley, Tia McDougall, Moby Nosehead, Peter Troughton, Elenor Uxbridge and Samuel Vine. Remus looked on at them, noticing how small their year-group was.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, rising again. "I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…

"As you will be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

Remus nearly groaned, then realised how silent the room was and stopped himself. Dumbledore continued to speak about the Dementors and talked about where they were, and what they would not be fooled by. 'Invisibility Cloaks' were his last words in that part of the speech, and Remus wondered if James had managed to hand down his Cloak to Harry, the Cloak which the Marauders had used on countless occasions to play tricks on Slytherins or break into the school kitchens, or, in Remus's case, to raid the Restricted Section of the library.

"On a happier note," Dumbledore continued. "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. Firstly, Professor Lupin," (Remus felt pride well up inside him as various people turned to look at him) "who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was applause, though, Remus acknowledged, it was rather scattered. He didn't mind. He was used to being lesser than best, as Sirius and James had always outshone him in the popularity department. He felt a terrible gaze burning into him and the hair on the back of his neck prickled. He glanced along the table. Snape was looking extremely loathing. Just as Remus had suspected, he was holding his grudge. He wondered what Snape taught. Thinking back, he remembered that, aside from the Dark Arts, Snape had a talent for potions.

'Darn,' Remus thought. Would this mean he wouldn't be able to take Wolfsbane potion after all, and have to resort to using the Shrieking Shack again? He sincerely hoped not.


End file.
